Terence McKenna Quotes
You see, a secret is not something untold. It’s something which can’t be told.
McKenna, Terence. "The Hermetic Tradition." Lecture, 1992.
The statement originates from the English navy where one of the worst forms of punishment was to be whipped with a “Cat of Nine Tails”, a vicious 9 thong whip. On board ship, it was carried in a bag by a petty officer and removed for punishment. Hence the saying.
Terence Kemp McKenna was an American ethnobotanist and mystic who advocated for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, environmentalism, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the '90s", "one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism", and the "intellectual voice of rave culture".
